Cabinet is concerned about the continued increase in material irregularities in the national and provincial government’s audit results for the 2018-19 financial year.
Auditor General Kimi Makwetu briefed Cabinet on the outcomes of the 2018/19 audit results at its ordinary meeting on Wednesday.
Twelve entities were selected to be audited on irregular expenditure. Eight of these had material irregularities. Seven were provincial departments in Health, Human Settlements, Education; the National Department of Water and Sanitation and the National Department of Basic Education and the state-owned entity, Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA).
“Cabinet is concerned about the continued increase in material irregularities,” said Minister in the Presidency, Jackson Mthembu, at a media briefing in Pretoria, on Thursday, on the outcomes of the Cabinet meeting.
He said the Public Audit Amendment Act, 2018 (Act 5 of 2018), which came into effect on 1 April 2019, is expected to strengthen the work of the Office of the Auditor General and ensure government begins to deal decisively with departments that continue to disregard the governance framework.
“To this effect, Cabinet has endorsed the enforcement of this Act, particularly on serious irregularities that require the AG to refer such transgression for further investigations, inclusive of law enforcement entities.”
He said Cabinet remains committed to ensuring clean governance within state-run institutions.
Cabinet has instructed the National School of Government to provide the necessary training and support to institutions requiring further training of their officials.
“Those who blatantly violate the public finance management framework will have to face the consequences of abusing state resources,” he said. – SAnews.gov.za
